A small clothing brand just forced Athleta to pull a pair of pants

The brand had been accused of copying a K-Deer, an small
athletic wear company based in Westwood, New Jersey, Fortune first reported.

The pants that were in question are Athleta's High Rise Bold
Stripe Chaturanga tights, which ostensibly bear striking
similarities to K-Deer's Signature Stripe pants, namely the
Sophia, Jody, and Alexis versions.

"My cousin, who works with me, sent me a screenshot — and that
was my first view of it," founder Kristine Deer said to Business
Insider, "and that was my first view of it. And it was — I think
like I said before [to Fortune, a], very jaw dropping moment.
Wow. How could this be?"

Deer said she logged onto Instagram and received notifications
regarding the image. "People were tagging me, saying, 'are you
collaborating with them? Are you affiliated? Did you sell them
the design?' And I couldn't believe it, in like a whole other
way, because there's no way that we are affiliated with
them."

But soon, she started to see an influx of comments from her
supporters.

People commented on Athetla's Instagram page — on a post with the pants in
question — saying they would never shop at Athleta again.

A photo posted by Athleta (@athleta) on Dec 27, 2015 at 9:02am PST on
Dec 27, 2015 at 9:02am PST

"People were angry," Deer said, largely because the Stripe
Series sends donations to various causes, such as brain
cancer and domestic violence. Each pair of pants was
named after a specific woman who was played an influence in
Deer's life.

And loyal K-Deer customers posted photos on Instagram,
highlighting the glaring similarities side-by-side, along with
the hashtags #IStandWithKDeer and #BoycottAthleta. Many of these posts
were complete with indignant captions, imploring consumers
to shop locally and support smaller businesses.

"Without any provoking, any
discussion, without any question or request, our fans and our
customers stepped up and started to speak out," she said, adding
that she's "still kind of
overwhelmed."

Deer said she hasn't"heard anything from
Athleta at this point. We obviously have legal counsel advising
us in certain ways, there for us if we do hear anything. The only
thing that we've noticed that they've taken them off their
shelves and off the website. Anything beyond that, we're stil
operating business as usual because do have a business to run.
"

Gap has confirmed to Business Insider that Athleta has since
pulled the pants.

"At Athleta, our customers always come first and, after
hearing recent feedback on the High Rise Bold Stripe Chaturanga
Tight, we have decided to remove it from our assortment," Debbie
Felix, a spokesperson for Athleta, wrote in a statement to
Business Insider.

"In light of the hundreds of shares, comments, and personal
messages, the K-DEER team and I would like to thank you for
sharing your loyal and heartfelt support. I'm so honored to be
surrounded by a community of people who respect us and honor the
values that our business has been built upon, as reflected in our
Signature Stripes."

"I honestly respect the business of Gap and Athleta," Deer said
to Business Insider. "But I don't respect the way that, you know,
they chose to take something of mine that has been so popular for
over two years and call it their own. It's something that we see
often in fashion. It's not easy to protect. It's devastating for
many companies who have completely lost their business because
someone else came in and took what they started."